Too many patients are being priced out of the medicines they need. While FDA doesn’t have a direct role in drug pricing, we can take steps to help address this problem by facilitating increased competition in the market for prescription drugs through the approval of lower-cost, generic medicines.
太多患者因药价太高而不能获得他们所需的药品。虽然FDA在药品定价方面无法直接发挥作用,但我们可以通过批准低成本的仿制药来促进处方药市场竞争提升,从而帮助解决这一问题。
Over the last decade alone, competition from safe and effective generic drugs has saved the health care system about $1.67 trillion. When generics are dispensed at the pharmacy, the immediate savings to each of us are clear. We could see even greater cost savings if we helped more safe and effective generic drugs get to market sooner, after patent and statutory exclusivity periods have lapsed, by addressing some of the scientific and regulatory obstacles to generic competition across the full range of FDA-approved drugs. These barriers may delay and, in some cases, ultimately deny patient access to more affordable drugs.
仅仅在过去十年中,来自安全有效仿制药的竞争已经为医疗保健体系节约了1.67万亿美元。当在药房分发仿制药时,对我们每个人的直接节省是明确的。如果我们在整个FDA获批药品范围内通过解决仿制药竞争的一些科学和监管障碍,帮助更多安全有效的仿制药在专利和法定专营期过后更快地进入市场,我们可以看到更大规模的费用节约。这些障碍可能会延迟,并且在某些情况下最终可能会使患者无法获得更经济实惠的药品。
—— Scott Gottlieb 博士